Warren G. Harding

Presidency

What famous scandal did Albert B. Fall create?

Fall, whom Harding befriended in the U.S. Senate, was responsible for the infamous Teapot Dome scandal. Teapot Dome was an oil field in public land in Salt Creek, Wyoming, Fall’s home state. As secretary of the interior, Fall leased the petroleum lands to Sinclair Oil without any competitive bidding. Fall also had leased the Elk Hills Naval Petroleum Reserve in central California to wealthy oilman Edward Doheny. During Harding’s administration, it was revealed that Doheny had given a personal loan of $100,000 to Fall. For his conduct, a jury found Fall guilty of bribery in 1929 and sentenced him to one year in prison. He became the first person from a presidential administration to serve time in prison for official political actions.